A bad season winds down, mercifully

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Tonight is the first in the two-part finale of Project Runway’s sixth season, and I’m looking forward to it much in the way I look forward to the end of an eight-hour flight. It’s been a terrible season, marred by absent judges, uninspired challenges, and a new Los Angeles setting that has no vibrancy of any kind.

And that’s all before you get to the issues with the cast. Like “Top Chef,” “Project Runway” is a show that succeeds or fails entirely of the skill level of the people they choose to cast in any given season. I don’t care if contestants are bitchy, or sassy, or cute. I care if they’re GOOD. And these designers are crap. It’s been one of those seasons that make you fear they’ve milked the national talent pool dry, and that the casts they bring in from here on out will bring diminished returns.

HOWEVAH, there is some good news in all of this hot mess. Since this season was filmed eons ago, Lifetime has already filmed season seven of the show. It premieres sometime in 2010, and it’ll be set back in New York, and judges Nina Garcia and Michael Kors will there for every episode. YEEEEHAWWWWW. All this means that, casting aside, the show will, at the very least, LOOK the way it looked in its heyday. And there will be no legal cloud hanging over that seventh season to cause delays and force the show to scrap good challenge ideas.

But before we get to that delightful NEW season, we have to take this current disaster of a season behind the shed and shoot it in the head. Rumor has it the three collections shown at Bryant Park from this season were underwhelming, to say the least. That won’t shock you. The question is, who had the LEAST underwhelming collection of the bunch? Join me as we play the odds.

Irina – 1/2: Your odds on favorite. She’s won the most challenges and she’s the most cutthroat contestant left. Yeah yeah, she’s kind of a bitch. But at least she’s trying. I think every other member of the cast spent their time eating chips and hitting on Logan, men and women alike.

Carol Hannah – 5/1: She’s constantly praised for the very wearable and pleasant dresses she makes, and she never ventures outside her comfort zone. She’s the most personable contestant left of the group, but that doesn’t mean anything. And what’s with the eye shadow? She looks like she spends half the day sparring with Manny Pacquiao.

Althea – 12/1: I feel like Althea has climbed down from her beanstalk and made the same outfit about 30 times in a row. She makes tailored shorts and mini blazers and loose-fitting shirts that make her model’s boobs go flying in all directions. She got killed in the final LA episode because her garments were so poorly constructed, but I feel like that’s the way she’s done things all season long. Also, she uses enough hair dye to kill an entire marine ecosystem.